A Christmas Story
by cheebs
Summary: a moment from "Amends," after the credits rolled. Faith/Buffy


title: A Christmas Story  
author: cheebs!  
email: chbkamen@optonline.net  
summary: a moment from "Amends" after the credits rolled  
rating: PG   
characters: Faith, Buffy  
improv # 50: crisp, fall, return, ending  
disclaimer: characters aren't mine, or the show would be a   
lot slashier. ^_^  
  
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She waited by the window until well past the time dawn   
came, grey and overcast, watching the snow fall. With each   
hour that Buffy did not return, her doubts nagged just a   
little more. 'She lied,' they whispered in a voice too much   
like her dead mother's, 'she's with him and she'll say   
anything to be with him. She doesn't care about you. Why   
should she? Nobody else ever did.' Faith forced the thoughts   
away as best she could, aiming to leave them in the darkest   
recesses of her mind.   
  
A blast of crisp wintery air hit her cheek, which leaned  
against the frosted glass, and she shivered as it ran down   
her neck and tickled the hairs there. The voice changed  
suddenly, turning proper and English: 'You're still an idiot,   
Faith. Still so eager to please, and play the watchdog while  
she consorts with a demon you don't dare slay because she'd   
hate you for it.'  
  
Her mouth was suddenly terribly dry, and her throat felt like  
it held a lump the size of a golf ball. She closed her eyes   
and swallowed, shifting her face to a cooler section of the  
pane. When she opened them again, /they/ were there, and   
those doubts came that much closer to taking hold as she   
observed their body language. Their kiss, tender and   
passionate as anything in the old movies, turned her qualms  
into a keen blade which not only buried itself in her heart  
but twisted roughly. Her eyes burned with tears she refused  
to shed, and she felt as if the world was ending. 'Why should  
I expect anything different?' she thought. 'She never gave  
me any reason to think I was anything to her. She only   
invited me because her mom made her.'  
  
They separated, and Buffy walked towards the tree she often   
climbed to get back into her room. The bounce in her step   
did not go unnoticed by the younger girl, who flew from her   
window perch to her prearranged side of the bed, drew the   
blanket up over her head and sunk her face in the pillow,   
fighting the urge to cry. She had barely settled when she   
heard the window slide open, then a light thud which she   
presumed was Buffy's feet hitting the floor; the window slid   
shut. There was near-inaudible rustling as she changed into   
her nightclothes, and the mattress sank to one side as she   
lay down.  
  
"I know you're awake."  
  
Faith slowed her breathing, thinking the rise and fall of   
her chest had given her away.   
  
"Nice try," Buffy said in a playful tone. A second later  
her fingers found Faith's side and tickled her ribs. She  
kept up her attack until the covers were thrown over her   
head and she was tackled, blinded. She now found herself   
on the receiving end of a similar assault. Shrieking with  
laughter, she struggled to disentangle herself, finally  
doing so and kicking the bedclothes to the floor. Unhindered,  
she gained the upper hand. She straddled the other girl's   
hips and trapped her hands against her abdomen. "Give?"  
  
Tired as she was, Faith didn't trust herself to speak without  
saying something incredibly stupid, so she nodded her head   
quickly. Her silence signalled the older girl that something   
was wrong, and Faith's unusually bright, red-rimmed eyes   
confirmed the suspicion. She swung her leg over to an empty   
spot on the bed, setting it bouncing. "Faith, what's wrong?"   
she asked, laying a hand on her shoulder.  
  
Faith sat up, crossing her arms and ankles as she directed   
her gaze out the window. "Just thinking about home," she   
lied, her voice cracking, "what with the snow and all."  
  
Buffy accepted the response; in the time she'd known the   
other Slayer, she'd been secretive about her home life,   
and asking questions didn't seem appropriate. Now she   
realised she didn't even know if Faith had any siblings.  
"You miss your family?"  
  
"Nobody to miss," Faith mumbled in reply, her brow furrowing  
angrily as she realised she _did_ miss South Boston, though   
her life there had been anything but happy. "Always wanted a   
sister, though," she continued, letting a minor truth slip,  
not adding how many times she'd wished for an older relation  
to protect her.  
  
"I used to ask Santa Claus for a sister," Buffy confided.  
  
Faith laughed explosively. "You actually believed in that?"  
  
Buffy pouted petulantly. "Of course. Oh, let me guess, you  
were too cool for Santa," she mocked, eyes twinkling.  
  
"Yeah, that's it exactly, B," Faith answered in a quiet tone  
that belied her inner turmoil. She didn't want to shatter   
what remained of the blonde's innocence as her mother had   
hers, one Christmas morning when she'd innoxiously asked why   
she hadn't gotten what she'd asked for. She shook off the   
melancholy and smiled, unconvincingly, forgetting the other   
could read her like an open book.  
  
"Hey...." Buffy cursed inwardly; she hadn't meant to further  
upset the younger girl. She pulled Faith into a hug and felt   
her stiffen. "It's better than believing in him until you're   
12," she added, blushing.  
  
Something between laughter and a strangled sob burst forth,  
and tears trickled from Faith's eyes. She decided on laughter  
and relaxed into the arms that held her. "You didn't."  
  
"I did." Buffy smiled warmly at the brunette, whose head was  
leaning back on her shoulder. "I wouldn't believe the other   
kids, 'cause I figured my parents wouldn't have lied to me."  
Her comment was meant playfully, but was delivered bitterly.  
  
"At least they cared enough to lie to make you happy," Faith  
rejoined before falling silent.   
  
A palpable stillness fell over the room as both girls lost   
themselves in unhappy musings of betrayals by parents and   
authority figures. It went unbroken for some time, until a   
slow smile crept over Buffy's face and she spoke at long   
last. "You know...I think Santa does exist." The statement   
was met with silence, so she continued. "He finally brought   
me something I asked him for for years, even if it was a few   
months early."  
  
"What's that?" Faith questioned finally.  
  
"A sister, of sorts," Buffy explained with a yawn, embracing  
her sister-in-arms more tightly and snuggling against her  
side. " 'Night, Faith. Merry Christmas."  
  
Faith looked down bemusedly at the petite and seemingly   
fragile girl for whom she was a pillow. Something inside  
her changed and was reflected in the now-tranquil expression   
on her face. "Merry Christmas, B," she murmured, taking her  
into her arms and canting her dark head against the blonde's.  
'Sister...yeah, I can handle that.'  
  
Exhausted, the Chosen Two took comfort in each other and   
slept away the last few hours before Sunnydale awoke to its  
first white Christmas.  
  
~end~  
9/10/02 


End file.
